ABOUT THE FILM

Beloved poet Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco) is also the most famous communist in post-WWII Chile. When the political tides shift, he is forced underground, with a perseverant police inspector (Gael García Bernal) hot on his trail. Meanwhile, in Europe, the legend of the poet hounded by the policeman grows, and artists led by Pablo Picasso clamor for Neruda’s freedom. Neruda, however, sees the struggle with his police inspector nemesis as an opportunity to reinvent himself. He cunningly plays with the inspector, leaving clues designed to make their game of cat-and-mouse ever more perilous. In this story of a persecuted poet and his obsessive adversary, Neruda recognizes his own heroic possibilities: a chance to become a symbol for liberty, as well as a literary legend.

CAST AND CREW BIOGRAPHIES

LUIS GNECCO (PABLO NERUDA)

Born in Santiago, Luis Gnecco – often called “Lucho” – is one of Chile’s most recognized actors. His film credits include EL BOSQUE DE KARADIMA (2015, Matias Lira), SEXO CON AMOR (2003, Boris Quercia), and JOHNNY 100 PESOS (1994, Gustavo Graef Marino), as well as Pablo Larraín’s own NO (2012). His television credits include “Narcos” (as La Cucaracha) and “Profugos.”

GAEL GARCÍA BERNAL (OSCAR PELUCHONNEAU)

Gael Garcia Bernal has worked as an actor since he was a child in Mexico. He made his feature film debut in Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu’s Academy Award-nominated AMORES PERROS, and won the Silver Ariel Award (Mexico’s equivalent of the Oscar) as Best Actor. His next film role was in Alfonso Cuaron’s Academy Award-nominated Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, starring opposite his lifelong friend Diego Luna.

Since then, his credits have included EL CRIMEN DEL PADRE AMARO (2002), THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (2004), BAD EDUCATION (2004), THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP (2006), BABEL (2006), THE LIMITS OF CONTROL (2009), MAMMOTH (2010), THE LONELIEST PLANET (2011), WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL (2013), ROSEWATER (2014), and the recently-released DESIERTO. His hit Amazon comedy “Mozart in the Jungle” will return for its third season on December 9, 2016.

In addition to acting, Bernal has taken on the roles of both director and producer. After directing short films in collaboration with Amnesty International, he directed his first feature, DÉFICIT, in 2007. He and Luna and producer Pablo Cruz run the production company Canana, along with the Ambulante documentary film festival.

MERCEDES MORÁN (DELIA DEL CARRIL)

Mercedes Morán is an Argentinian actress. In 2001, she starred on the television series “Cupables” which won the TV Prize Martin Fierro de Oro. Since 2011, Morán has starred in the series “The Man in Your Life” as Gloria Pinotti, a role for which she won Best Actress in Special TV Programs for two consecutive years. She also appeared with Gael García Bernal in 2004’s THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES.

PABLO LARRAÍN, DIRECTOR

Pablo Larraín directed his first feature film, FUGA, in 2005. His second film, TONY MANERO (which premiered at the 2008 Directors’ Fortnight), third film, POST MORTEM (a 2010 Venice Film Festival premiere), and fourth film, NO (which premiered in the 2012 Directors’ Fortnight, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film), comprise a trilogy about the Pinochet dictatorship. Last year’s THE CLUB, which won the Grand Jury Prize Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.

NERUDA premiered this year at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes and is the fourth film of Larraín’s to be chosen by Chile as the country’s official submission for the Academy Awards. Larraín’s other 2016 release, JACKIE, starring Natalie Portman, is his first English-language film.

Outside of his work in film, Larraín produced and directed “Profugos,” which was the first series produced by HBO in Chile and was nominated for an International Emmy for Best Drama Series. He also directed the 1921 Russian opera “Káťa Kabanová,” originally written by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček, for the Santiago’s Teatro Municipal.

GUILLERMO CALDERÓN, WRITER

Guillermo Calderón was born in Santiago and is a screenwriter, playwright and theater director based in the United States. His plays include “Neva,” “Diciembre,” “Clase,” “Villa,” “Speech,” “Quake,” “Escuela,” “Kuss” and “Mateluna.” Calderón’s productions have toured extensively through South America, North America, and Europe. He has been commissioned by the Düsseldorf (Schauspielhaus Germany), the Royal Court Theater (UK) and the Public Theater in New York City, where he also directed “Neva.”

His co-written screenplay VIOLETA WENT TO HEAVEN won the World Cinema Jury Prize for Drama at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and the International Federation of Film Critics Prize for Best Film at the 2012 Guadalajara Mexican Film Festival. He co-wrote THE CLUB, directed by Pablo Larraín, winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival 2015, and nominated for the Golden Globes in the Foreign Language category.

JUAN DE DIOS LARRAÍN, PRODUCER

Juan de Dios Larraín is a founding member of Fabula, a film, TV, publicity and production company. He has produced all of Pablo Larraín’s films, along with Sebastián Silva’s LA VIDA ME MATA (2007), CRYSTAL FAIRY (2014), and NASTY BABY (2015); Abel Ferrar’s 4:44 LAST DAY ON EARTH (2011); Marialy Rivas’s PRINCESS (2016) and YOUNG & WILD (2012); Sebastián Lelio’s GLORIA (2013); and both seasons of “Prófugos,” the first HBO series made in Chile.

Hervé Schneid is an award-winning French film editor who has collaborated with directors such as Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1991’s DELICATESSEN, 1997’s ALIEN: RESURRECTION, 2001’s AMÉLIE, 2004’s A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT), Sally Potter (1992’s ORLANDO, 1997’s THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN), and Lars Von Trier (1991’s EUROPA). Additional credits include Natalie Portman’s A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS (2015), Jean-François Richet’s MESRINE (2008), and the documentary ZIDANE: A 21ST CENTURY PORTRAIT (2006).